I had been to the vet only once before with my house rabbit Elsie, to get a check up before her spaying procedure. We went to VCA vets and I do not recommend them. They treated Elsie with distain and although they said she was cute, they were emotionless and the doctor did not know how to deal with animals or people. VCA doesn't have very much experience with rabbits, so I would never go there again. We didn't end up getting Elsie spayed because of it.
Back to Gracie. I took her to the Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine in Bothell. It was a much better experience! CBEAM has much more experience with rabbits and 24hr emergency care all days of week, holidays, etc. They actually don't treat dogs or cats.
When we got there, we filled out some paperwork since it was our first time. The receptionists were very sweet and kind. I had read some Yelp reviews and most of them said that the receptionists were the worst part of the visit, because they were very mean and antisocial, so it must've been a day those receptionists weren't in ;)
When the receptionist showed us to our room, shortly after the technician arrived. She was such a sweet lady and kept raving about how cute Gracie was. She said it had been a "bunny day" and they had even seen a 3 week old baby bunny earlier that morning (how cute!).
The tech took Gracie's heart and breathing rates, recorded them., and weighed her. Then, what a loved, she allowed Gracie to roam the room freely stating that it was "her room" and she could do whatever she wanted..."pee, poop, we don't care!" She said. I should've got her name! The technician asked more questions, mostly about her diet and environment.
Dr. McLaughlin checked Gracie's feet, ears and eyes. She palpated her stomach to feel for any ulcers or unusual bumps or lumps.
When she checked Gracie's teeth, she used a tool to put inside her mouth and checked her back teeth. I hadn't seen rabbit back teeth before, it's really quite fascinating! I should get a fancy tool like that for myself so I can tell when any problems are going on back there. Sometimes the back teeth can get overgrown and this will cause the rabbit to stop eating and die if it isn't caught soon enough.
Once the doctor and technician stepped out of the room, some ladies came in and took Gracie's temperature (she didn't seem to mind), but they were so funny and very sympathetic with her.
*All photos credit of my friend Risa.
*Used with permission!